Many Democratic and other left-of-center constituents of Rep. Sam Farr (D-Carmel) are still fuming over his decision to join a conservative minority of Democrats who broke with Nancy Pelosi and other party leaders by supporting the Republican-backed 2015 federal budget package. Since several dozen Republicans voted “no,” the measure — which narrowly passed by a 219-206 margin — could have been defeated were it not for Democratic defectors like Farr.

The bill provides taxpayer bailouts for losses incurred through risky derivatives trading by Wall Street speculators. The language of that section of the bill, which privatizes profit and socializes risk, was literally written by Citigroup and passed despite vehement opposition from consumers rights groups and many leading economists.

The bill allows wealthy donors to contribute 10 times more to party committees than they have been able to do previously, thereby insuring even more influence by the super-rich on both Republican and Democratic parties. Federal contractors doing billions of dollars’ worth of business annually with the federal government can now contribute millions of dollars more to the campaigns of those who effectively control those contracts.

According to Common Cause president Miles Rapoport, supporters of the measure “have agreed to an unprecedented sell-out of the public interest. It is a disaster, pure and simple.”

Similarly, Sen. Elizabeth Warren referred to the bill as “the worst of government for the rich and powerful.”

The legislation even slashes the enforcement budget of the Internal Revenue Service geared toward upper-income tax cheats. Given that the IRS collects an average of $7 for every dollar it spends on audits, the result will be still higher deficits.

The bill allows private companies to lower their promised pension payments to more than 1 million retirees. It weakens efforts to improve nutritional content in school lunches. It blocks implementation of new Transportation Department regulations to insure that long-distance truck drivers get enough sleep. It overrules a binding referendum passed last month by District of Columbia voters to legalize marijuana, rejecting the right of this predominantly African-American jurisdiction to make their own regulations.

There are a number of terrible provisions dealing with the environment as well: slashing the budget for the Environmental Protection Agency, weakening the Clean Water Act, banning the Fish and Wildlife Service from adding a rare bird to the Endangered Species list, and ending the ban on mountaintop removal coal extraction despite its devastating environmental consequences.

Despite the threat from climate change, the bill cuts funding for alternative renewable energy while increasing subsidies to oil companies. Furthermore, Republicans bragged that, in the budget for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, “no funding is included for any new, unauthorized ‘sustainable,’ ‘livable, or ‘green’ community development programs.”

Despite calls by Amnesty International and other human rights groups to suspend arms transfers to Israel in light of recent war crimes, the bill increases taxpayer-funded military aid for that right-wing government.

A full 55 percent of the budget goes for military spending, a higher percentage than during most of the Cold War, and includes a half-billion dollars for F-35 fighter planes the Pentagon didn’t even ask for due to serious technical problems.

In order to pay for this increased military spending, the spending bill cuts $93 million in nutrition programs for pregnant and nursing mothers, slashes Pell grants for low-income college students, cuts the Department of Education budget and eliminates funding for high-speed rail.

Farr acknowledges that there were a number of bad provisions in the bill, but insists that it was better to give in to Republican blackmail and support it anyway in order to avoid another government shutdown. However, with the upper house and the executive branch still under Democratic control, Farr and others could have likely held out for a much better deal. According to American Prospect editor Robert Kuttner, by allying with the Republicans in passing the resolution, Democrats like Farr “lost their role as a credible opposition.”

I am convinced that Sam Farr is a decent human being and a relatively progressive congressman who sincerely wishes the best for his district. However, like his congressional colleagues, he is under constant pressure by Wall Street, the Pentagon, major corporations and other powerful interests.

This is why we as his constituents need to step up. If enough of us make clear our objections to his vote on this bill, it will reduce the likelihood he will support this kind of legislation again.

Stephen Zunes is a Santa Cruz resident and a professor of politics at the University of San Francisco.